Dan's Diner: In Defense of Rob Curley, LoudounExtra and Innovation

Will Sullivan has a great post on Journerdism about some of the undue criticism of Rob Curley and LoudounExtra.com upon Rob's latest move from The Washington Post to the Las Vegas Sun. Some journalists see Rob's move as a sign that LoudonExtra is a failure, and they cite some of Rob's own admissions of what he could have done better as evidence.

I used to work in Loudoun County (at AOL) and, much earlier, at washingtonpost.com. So I think I can speak with a small amount of authority on both the Loudoun community and the culture at the Post -- although I know both have changed quite a bit since I was out east.

And here’s what I can tell you. Before LoudounExtra, there was NOTHING significant that served that community, which is now one of the wealthiest counties in the country, but not long ago was what a friend of mine called "dueling banjo country". Even AOL, which was based there, had nothing that was specifically focused on the area. Loudoun was screaming for something new and different that spoke to its unique local needs, and LoudounExtra emerged to fill that need.

Rob Curley should be congratulated for seizing that opportunity and laying a solid foundation that others can build on. He's a startup guy, and this industry needs to give him (and others like him) credit for doing what he’s best at. The worst thing we can do is discourage future innovators from trying because they're afraid they'll be ripped apart if they don't create overnight successes. They'll ontinue doing what they do, but in competition to existing local media organizations rather than as part of them.

If we ever want to have a true culture of innovation within newspapers, this business of sniffing out the blood in the water as soon as something new shows signs of struggle needs to stop. We saw the same thing happen when Mark Potts' Backfence and Steve Outing's Enthusiast Group imploded, with lots of journalists claiming them as signs of of the end of citizen journalism -- which of course wasn't and isn't the case -- more and more initiatives like that continue and grow increasingly financially viable. With LoudonExtra, the criticism is even worse because the site is still in operation. The only thing that's changed is that the guy who started it is moving on to something else.

I think the real problem here is not any individual’s failure, but the increasing desperation in the newspaper industry in a year when print ad revenues fell by $42 billion, barely offset by an increase of $3.3 billion in online ads. This breeds a culture of panic that makes people focus on shoring up existing business models and revenue streams, often at the expense of the long-term opportunities which are fueled by disruptive innovation.

Of course, a "back to basics" strategy in the face of change makes absolutely no sense. If an existing business is faltering because the model is changing, you need to double up efforts to move with the changes. Otherwise -- game over! And we have to remember that every time we try and supposedly “fail,” and then give up because we didn't have an instant home run, there are dozens of others who will keep chipping away and be satisfied with every tiny gain. If existing local news businesses pull back as the world continues to move forward, it's easy to see what that means for our future. We will cede the journalistic role to others.

LoudonExtra is ahead of the curve in its community, and for this reason I doubt the Post sees it as a long-term failure. It’s just a baby! I'm sure that Don Graham will give it, and other initiatives like it, time to grow up. Startups take time to work, and innovation is an evolutionary process.

I also have to say that as someone who’s created many local participatory sites (Bakotopia and 11 total in Bakersfield), I can empathize with how hard it is to get the word out. Local outreach is key, and really, really hard because it requires a lot of pavement pounding. And once you reach out to the thought leaders in your community, the job has only just begun. It takes time to get the ball rolling. But we shouldn't consider that a hindrance -- getting out on the street is what the big pureplay Internet startups will never do, aside from local-technical initiatives like Google's Street View initiative. Sending interns out with car cams is a lot different from calling up school principals, pastors and community organizers to show them a new way that they can connect with their local community.

Could Rob Curley have done more to, as he says, reach out to the local rotary clubs? Sure, but isn't there always more than needs to be done? He's set a solid foundation that others can build on, and honestly stated what he learned from it so that the next person can continue where he left off. That's the mark of a leader.